Organizers have spilled the beans that this year’s Comdex conference in Vegas has been cancelled due to a general lack of enthusiasm from potential vendors and attendees. While the show has had lower turnouts in recent years, this still comes as a major blow to what was once an emblem of all that was good in the world (translation: dot com boom meets dry heat meets legalized lap dancing).

Among the other reasons for the show’s demise is the rise of events celebrating consumer electronic and gadgets. My theory is that there is a scheduling issue here as well. Vegas’ own Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just happens to coincide with the Adult Video News Awards Show that takes place next door. How do you compete with the perfect storm of handheld gadgets, etc? I like to call it Palm Week.

Davenetics by Dave Pell

Welcome to Dave Pell's Davenetics, the Official Blog of the Next Five Minutes. Dave is an old school blogger. It all started with Davenetics, but then grew into a suite of blogs and brands including Electablog (politics) and NextDraft (newsletter). These days, Dave almost all of his blogging at Tweetage Wasteland, a look at the realtime web that is syndicated by Forbes, NPR, Gizmodo and others. Dave is also the founder of Rollyo and Addictomatic, an investor/adviser for several start-ups, and the husband of Gina Pell.